Dynamic identification of other users to an online user

ABSTRACT

Informing a user of a large scale network dynamically of other network users includes determining dynamically an online context of the user. Other users presently within the online context of the user are identified and trait information is stored that is related essentially only to the user or to the other users in a users store associated with the online context. The user is informed dynamically of the other users based on the stored trait information, such as, for example, an age or other demographic identifier, or information indicative of an expertise, interest, preference, user type and/or other quality of the user or of the other individual.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/023,256, filed on Feb. 28, 2011, which-is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/715,211, filed on Nov. 18, 2003, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,899,862, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/488,376, filed on Jul. 21, 2003; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/488,749, filed Jul. 21, 2003; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/488,388, filed Jul. 21, 2003; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/428,263, filed Nov. 22, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/428,262, filed Nov. 22, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/427,947, filed Nov. 21, 2002; and U.S. Provisional Application No.60/426,806, filed Nov. 18, 2002. Each of the foregoing patent(s) andapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to identification of online users.

BACKGROUND

Online users of the Internet have virtually on-demand access toinformation such as news, weather, financials, sports, and entertainmentas well as the ability to generate electronic messages and toparticipate in online discussion groups. Many online users may accesssimultaneously the same or similar online locations and may desireinformation regarding other individuals accessing those locations. Thewealth of available online locations, the large quantity of users whomay access the online locations, and the wealth of informationassociated with the users may impede an online service provider'sability to provide the desired information.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for dynamically identifyingother users to an online user.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process implementable by the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user identification system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a WhoIsHere service that may be used toimplement the user identification system of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a support service that may be used toimplement the user identification system of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary window that may be used by the system ofFIG. 3 to identify other users to an online user.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process implementableby the user identification system of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 8-10 are transaction diagrams illustrating additional exemplaryprocesses implementable by the user identification system of FIG. 3.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An online service provider may display dynamically and in real timeinformation of other users presently viewing the same web page as theuser. For instance, the user may perceive when buddy list members view aweb page concurrently with the user, or may perceive when other usershaving a shared trait with the user (e.g., male over 35) view a web pageconcurrently with the user, or combination of connectivity criteria andtrait matching information may be used to identify others whoconcurrently perceive common web pages or other contact such astelevision programming. The user may perceive other users based on atrait of the other users and/or based on a trait of the user.

Referring briefly to FIG. 6, a graphical user interface (GUI) 600displays dynamically and in real time a list of other users presentlyaccessing the same online NFL sports channel as the user. The GUIindicates numerical counts of the number of other users accessing thechannel. The GUI may display and order the list of users based ontraits, such as, for example, expertise, age and/or gender. The GUI alsomay be configured to rank and order the other users based on expertise.In any event, the GUI 1000 will update dynamically as the user navigatesto other sites on the, presenting to the user in real-time the otherusers accessing those sites concurrently with the user.

FIG. 1 shows a generalized system 100 used to identify dynamically to anonline user 105 other individuals 110 within an online context 115 ofthe user 105. The system 100 identifies the other individuals 110 to theuser 105 using a dynamic user identification system 120. The dynamicuser identification system 120 is configured to be scalable and includesa context determination service 125, an identification service 130, aninformation storage service 135, and an informing service 140.

The context determination service 125 may be configured to determine theonline context 115 of the user 105, and to communicate informationindicative of the online context 115. The online context 115 may bebased upon an online presence of the user 105, such as, for example, apresence of the user 105 at a particular URL (uniform resource locator),chat-room, message board, or newsgroup. The online context 115 also maybe based upon a focus of the user 105 upon a particular web page orportion of a web page at which the user 105 is present. To facilitatethe determination of the online context 115, various online locationsand/or information sources may be aggregated, for example, by hierarchyor topic, and may be designated accordingly.

The identification service 130 may be configured to identify otherindividuals 110 present within the online context 115 of the user 105.The identification service 130 may include mechanisms to log entrywithin and exit from the online context 115 of the other individuals110. The identification service 130 may employ one or more protocols totransfer information internally or to communicate with other componentsof the dynamic user identification system 120.

The information storage service 135 stores information (e.g., traitinformation, identification information, and/or contact information)indicative of the user and/or of the other individuals 110 identified aswithin the online context 115 of the user 105. For example, theinformation storage service 135 may store, in relation to the onlinecontext 115, information indicative of an other individual 110 indicatedby the identification service 130 to have entered within the onlinecontext 115. Similarly, the information storage service 135 may removefrom storage the information indicative of the individual 110 when theidentification service 130 indicates that the other individual 110 hasleft the online context 115. Storing trait or other information ofessentially only individuals presently within the online context 115 mayimprove scalability of the system 100.

The trait information of the other individuals 110 may include, forexample, information indicative of an age, gender, nationality, race,disability and/or other demographic identifier of the individual, and/orinformation indicative of an expertise, interest, preference, education,profession, avocation, user type and/or other quality of the otherindividual 110. In the primary implementation described herein, thetrait information does not include “heavy” items such as the extensiveinformation associated with a history of the online activity orcorrespondence of the other individual 110. While “heavy” items may bestored and communicated as other information in a manner similar to thatdescribed for trait information, heavy information items aredistinguished from trait information for purposes of this description tobetter explain one possible implementation in which the system 120 isnot burdened and scalability is not impeded. Hence, the traitinformation is merely a subset of all other available information. Theinformation storage service 135 may store the trait information, theidentification information and/or the contact information or may store areference used to access the information.

The informing service 140 uses the trait, identification, or contactinformation of the information storage service 135 to inform the user105 of at least one of the other individuals 110 within the onlinecontext 115. The informing service 140 may be configured to identify theother individuals 110 to the user 105 in association with the onlinecontext 115. For example, the other individuals 110 may be identified ina pop-up window associated with a web page upon which the user 105 isfocused. To provide a more focused and relevant disclosure, theinforming service 140 may identify the other individuals 110 to the user105 based on a common age grouping or other common demographicidentifier. For example, the informing service 140 may inform a user 105between the ages of 25 and 32 of other individuals 110 within the onlinecontext 115 who also are between the ages of 25 and 32 years.

The informing service 140 also may provide the user 105 with traitinformation indicating interests or characteristics of the otherindividuals 110, and may enable the user 105 easily to communicate withone or more of the other individuals 110 based on the identification andcontact information. The informing service 140 may enable the user 105to modify the presentation of information related to the otherindividuals 110 (e.g., to determine ordering of the information), toobtain related follow-on information, and/or to select or filterinformation based on various criteria (e.g., based on a postal code or atelephone area code).

The elements of system 100 (the system elements) may include additionalmechanisms for delivering or processing data. The mechanisms mayinclude, for example, any applications, protocols, devices, or networksused to facilitate communication or processing of electronic data. Thesystem elements also may include or be included in a general-purpose ora special-purpose computer, a database, a local area network (LAN),and/or a wide area network (WAN). The response to and execution ofinstructions received by the system elements may be controlled by, forexample, a program, a piece of code, an instruction, a device, acomputer system, or a combination thereof, for independently orcollectively instructing the system elements to interact and operate asdescribed.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a process 200 implementable bysystem 100 of FIG. 1 to identify dynamically to the online user 105 atleast one of the other individuals 110 within the online context 110.The context determination service 125 determines the online context 115of the user 105 (step 205). To this end, the context determinationservice 125 may monitor the online activity of the user 105 and maydetermine the online context 115 based, for example, on a web page orportion of a web page presently visited and/or focused upon by the user105.

The identification service 130 identifies one or more other individuals110 within the online context 115 of the user 105 (step 210). Forexample, the identification service 130 may track the entry into andexit from the online context 115 of individuals to determine the otherindividuals 110 presently within the context 115.

The information storage service 135 stores trait information,identification information and/or contact information relatedessentially only to the other individuals 110 in a context store, suchas, for example, a database record associated with the online context115 (step 215).

Finally, the informing service 140 informs the user 105 dynamically ofat least one of the other individuals 110 based on the stored trait,identification and/or contact information of the identification service130 (step 220). The informing service 140 may inform the user 105 of theother individuals 110 using, for example, a pop-up window, a list, agraph, or any other appropriate mechanism. The informing service 140 mayinform the user 105 of the other individuals 110 in a fashion associatedwith the online context 115 of the user 105 and may enable the user 105to interact online with at least one of the other individuals 110 basedon information of the information storage service 135.

Referring to FIG. 3, a generalized system 300 is illustrated that uses adynamic user identification system 320 having a WhoIsHere service 330 toidentify dynamically to the user 105 at a client service 305 at leastone other individual 110 also within an online context 315 of a largescale network 317. Exemplary components of the notification system 300are described in greater detail below.

The client service 305 may be configured to provide the user 105 withonline access to the network 317 and may include a context window 307associated with the online context 315 and a WhoIsHere window 309associated with the WhoIsHere service 330. More generally, the clientservice 305 may include any device, system, and/or piece of code thatrelies on another service to perform an operation. For example, theclient service 305 may include a device such as a notebook computer, atelephone, a pen-enabled computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) ormobile telephone, and/or a desktop computer. The client service 305 alsomay include a Web browser, an email client, a synchronization client(e.g., a calendar synchronization client, or a task list synchronizationclient), an instant messaging (IM) client, a business productivityapplication (e.g., a word processor or a spreadsheet program), and/or anoperating system or operating system kernel residing on a device. Theclient service 305 may be arranged to operate within or in concert withone or more other systems, such as, for example, one or more LANs and/orone or more WANs.

The client service 305 may receive and present information to the user105 using a standard protocol, such as, for example, the standardgeneralized markup language (SGML), the extensible markup language(XML), the hypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML), the compact hypertext markup language (cHTML),the virtual reality markup language (VRML), the wireless markup language(WML), the voice extensible markup language (VXML), the short messageservice (SMS), a document object model (DOM), the simple object accessprotocol (SOAP), or the dynamic hypertext markup language (DHTML). Theclient service 305 may present the information to the user 105 in amanner that enables the user 105 to respond to, or to interact with, thepresented information.

The large scale network 317 typically allows direct or indirectcommunication between the client service 305 and the dynamic useridentification system 320, irrespective of physical or logicalseparation. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the large scale network 317also may allow direct or indirect communication between the clientservice 305, the other individuals 110, and/or the support service 350.The large scale network 317 may access, or include various sources ofinformation, such as, for example, third party information or services,email, a discussion group, a chat room, a news service, a brokerservice, a banking service, a shopping service, a weather service, theWorld Wide Web, or other Internet information sources.

The large scale network 317 may employ one or more protocols (i.e.,standards, formats; conventions, rules, and structures) to transferinformation internally or deliver information to one or more users. Theprotocols may include, for example, the Internet protocol (IP), thetransfer connection protocol (TCP), the hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP), the file transfer protocol (FTP), the user datagram protocol(UDP), the layer two tunneling protocol (L2TP) and/or the simple mailtransfer protocol (SMTP). The large scale network 317 may include, forexample, the Internet, the World Wide Web, a WAN, a LAN, analog ordigital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., PSTN, ISDN, orxDSL), radio, television, cable, satellite, and/or any other deliverymechanism for carrying data. The network 317 may be secured orunsecured, public or private.

The online context 315 may be defined by context definition informationof the WhoIsHere service 330 and/or by meta data of the online context315 that itself defines in whole or in part a scope of the context 315.The WhoIsHere service 330 may include or may access context definitioninformation that may define an online context based on a hierarchicalrelationship of online locations and/or user relationships. For example,the context definition information may indicate that the scope of theonline context 315 includes an online news site and web pageshierarchically associated with that site, or that the scope of theonline context 315 includes a television channel and programmingassociated with that channel. The context definition information alsomay indicate that the scope of the online context 315 is limitedaccording to a language or a geographic access region. For example, thescope of the online context 315 may be limited to include only Englishversion pages of a web site and to exclude individuals accessing thewebsite from outside of a predetermined geographic region (e.g., outsideof the metropolitan area of the user's residence). In addition, or inthe alternative, web pages of the online news site may include a labelor tag indicating that they are within the same online context.

The dynamic user identification system 320 may be configured to indicatethe number of other individuals 110 within the online context 315 basedon trait information (e.g., a participation preference, a common age,and/or a similar demographic identifier) of the user 105 and of theother individuals 110. The dynamic user identification system 320 mayidentify the online context 315 automatically based upon an intelligentprocess that correlates derived parameters (e.g., location, languageand/or subject matter) of a URL to a related context definition. Thedynamic user identification system 320 also may identify the onlinecontext 315 based, for example, on a meta tag embedded of the onlinecontext 315 that defines the online context 315. The dynamic useridentification system 320 also may be configured to show onlineidentifiers (e.g., screen names) of other individuals 110 within thecontext 315, and may present the online identifiers sorted according tocommonality of interest with the user 105.

The user 105 and the other individuals 110 (collectively the users) eachmay specify certain trait information, such as, for example,participation preferences, to be used by the dynamic user identificationsystem 320. For example, the users may choose to opt-in or opt-out ofparticipation, and may be allowed to do so dynamically during an onlinesession. When opted-in, users may see and be seen using the dynamic useridentification system 320. Users also may specify to opt-in or toopt-out of participation on a context-by-context basis, according tocategories of contexts, and/or based on trait information, such as, forexample, an age or other demographic identifier. For example, users mayopt-in or opt-out of some or all: 1) message boards, 2) web sites,and/or 3) chat rooms. Similarly, users may opt-in or opt-out withrespect to other individual users and/or with respect to an age or otherdemographic identifier. For example, a user may opt-in with respect toone or more individuals with whom the user wishes to share presenceinformation, or may opt-out with respect to a list of individuals bywhom the user does not wish to be seen. Nevertheless, even whenopted-out, a user's un-named presence within a context still contributestoward the aggregate count of individuals within that context.Additionally, certain classes of users automatically may be opted-outbased on trait information, such as, for example, users classified as“Kids,” or users classified as “Young Teens,” or “Mature Teens” for whoma parental control setting indicates that participation is notpermitted.

Subject to the participation preferences or other trait information, thedynamic user identification system 320 may enable the user 105 tointeract online with one or more of the other individuals 110 within theonline context 315, for example, by adding the other individual 110 to acontact list (e.g., a buddy list), or by using instant messaging oremail. The dynamic user identification system 320 also may enable theuser 105 to interact with one or more of the other individuals 110 usinga voice communication provided, for example, using a wireless mobiledevice. The dynamic user identification system 320 may allow the user105 to view a profile of the other individual 110 so that the user 105may determine further the desirability of communicating with the otherindividual 110.

In one implementation, the dynamic user identification system 320 maywork to identify the viewers of a television program. While the user 105views the television program, the dynamic user identification system 320may identify to the user 105 other viewers 110 presently viewing thesame program and who also are included in a contact list (e.g., a buddylist) of the user 105 and/or who have similar or complementary traitinformation. The dynamic user identification system 320 may enable theuser 105 to interact during the television program with one or more ofthe other individuals 110, using, for example, instant messaging and/orany other appropriate form of electronic messaging. The ability tointeract dynamically and in real time with other viewers of a televisionprogram May significantly enhance the real and perceived value oftelevision programming by aiding viewers to build communities of otherindividuals having common interests.

Moreover, certain television programming lends itself to viewerinteraction, such as, for example, performance or reality basedprogramming. In reality based programming the viewers generally selectfavorite participants, and may be enabled to participate in the programby voting. The interactivity provided by the dynamic user identificationsystem 320 enables viewers of reality based programs to interact witheach other regarding their favorite or most disliked reality programparticipants, or to organize voting blocks or other activities tofurther invest the viewers' role in and contribution to the realityprogram.

Based on the trait information, the dynamic user identification system320 may distinguish visually user-rated experts whose expertise isrelevant, for example, to the online context 315, or an interest of theuser 105. For example, in a financial context, the dynamic useridentification system 320 may distinguish visually an individual who isa financial expert; if the online context 315 relates to health, thedynamic user identification system 320 may distinguish as experts onlythose individuals having a health related expertise. In like manner, thedynamic user identification system 320 may distinguish visually otherindividuals based on other trait information, such as, for example, ageor another demographic identifier. The dynamic user identificationsystem 320 generally may include any device, system, and/or piece ofcode configured to perform an operation related to activity associatedwith the network 317 or requested by the client service 305.

The dynamic user identification system 320 includes a front-end 321 anda back-end 323. The front-end 321 and the back-end 323 may or may not beincorporated within the same hardware or software device, depending, forexample, on an anticipated workload of the dynamic user identificationsystem 320. Structuring the dynamic user identification system 320 toinclude front-end 321 and back-end 323 portions may improve the abilityof the dynamic user identification system 320 to serve the many users ofa large scale network such as the Internet. In other words, thefront-end/back-end structure may improve the scalability of the dynamicuser identification system 320.

Referring more specifically to the front-end 321, the front end mayinclude one or more interface services 325. The interface services 325may communicate online activity of the user 105 or of the otherindividuals 110 to one or more WhoIsHere services 330 or supportservices 350 of the back-end 323. The interface services 325 also maycommunicate service requests from the client service 305 to the back-end323 and communicate information to the client 305 informing of one ormore of the other individuals 110.

The interface services 325 of the front-end 321 communicate between theclient services 305 and the WhoIsHere services 330. The interfaceservices 325, for example, communicate information to the WhoIsHereservices 330 identifying the online context 315 of the user 105. Theinterface services 325 may communicate to the WhoIsHere services 330information based upon a current online location or online activity ofthe user 105. For example, the interface services 325 may communicate acontext identifier (e.g., a meta tag) embedded in an information itemaccessed by the user 105. The interface services 325 also communicate tothe user 105 information informing of the other individuals 110 asdetermined by the WhoIsHere services 330. The interface services 325 mayinclude a print service, a file access service, an IM service, anoperating system, an operating system kernel, an authentication service,an authorization service, and/or any combination of these or otherservices.

In an alternative implementation, the interface services 325 may beincluded in whole or in part as a component of the client service 305.

The back-end 323 includes one or more WhoIsHere services 330 thatdetermine the other individuals 110 presently within the online context315 and are configured to inform the user 105 of at least one of theother individuals 110. One or more support services 350 are configured,for example, to communicate information to the WhoIsHere service 330indicative of online activity and/or preferences of the otherindividuals 110. The WhoIsHere services 330 and the support services 350each are described in greater detail below.

The WhoIsHere services 330 communicate trait, identification and/orcontact information of the other individuals 110 to the interfaceservices 325 for suggestion to the user 105 through the client service305. The WhoIsHere services 330 determine the other individuals withinthe online context 315 and inform the user 105 of at least one of theother individuals 110. The WhoIsHere services 330 may be configured toreceive information indicating the current online context of the user105 from the interface services 325.

The WhoIsHere services 330 may communicate to the interface services 325a WhoIsHere list of other individuals 110 within the online context ofthe user 105. The WhoIsHere services 330 may communicate the WhoIsHerelist to the interface services 325 automatically after a change in theonline context of the user 105 and also at any time that the WhoIsHerelist changes. The WhoIsHere services 330 also may communicate theWhoIsHere list to the interface services 325 at short periodicintervals, such as, for example, every 30 or 60 seconds. Alternativelyor in addition, the WhoIsHere services 330 may communicate the WhoIsHerelist to the interface services 325 in response to a request of theinterface services 325. The interface services 325 may be configured torequest from the WhoIsHere services 330 an updated WhoIsHere list at setperiodic intervals or upon a change in the online context of the user105.

The WhoIsHere services 330, alone or in conjunction with other services,may perform sorting, prioritizing, or other types of organizationalprocessing on the trait, identification and/or contact informationunderlying the WhoIsHere list so that the WhoIsHere list is provided ina desired fashion. Typically, the WhoIsHere services 330 will include asoftware program or a piece of code to cause the WhoIsHere services 330to operate as described above.

The support services 350 are configured, for example, to communicatewith the WhoIsHere service 330 and to provide the WhoIsHere service withinformation related to the other individuals 110. The network 317includes one or more online contexts. In general, the support services350 determine dynamically the online contexts and online locations thateach of the other individuals 110 access (e.g., by opening a Web page ofthe network 317), and/or upon which they focus (e.g., by clicking on anopen Web page or a portion thereof). To make this determination, thesupport services 350 may monitor dynamically the online activities ofthe other individuals 110 and/or may communicate with client services ofthe other individuals 110 to obtain relevant activity information. Thesupport services 350 also may determine trait information (e.g.,information of an interest, a preference, or an expertise),identification information and/or contact information of each of theother individuals 110. The support service 350 may determine thisinformation by communicating with the other individuals 110, throughonline activity of the other individuals 110, and/or through the use ofuser profiles describing the other individuals 110.

Having determined information related to online activity of one or moreof the other individuals 110, the support services 350 may communicatethat information to the WhoIsHere services 330. The WhoIsHere services330 include records representative of various online contexts of thenetwork 317. The WhoIsHere services 330 record information related toonline activity communicated by the support services 350 using therecords representative of the online contexts. For example, theWhoIsHere services 330 may include a record for online context A, andmay add to an internal list trait, identification and/or contactinformation of an individual who has accessed or focused upon a web pagewithin online context A. The WhoIsHere services 330 may remove theindividual from the internal list, for example, upon receipt ofinformation indicating that the individual has exited online context Aby closing the web page within context A or by logging out. Forindividuals who are opted-out or who are globally excluded, theWhoIsHere services 330 may store only anonymous presence information forcontribution to a total presence count of the online context 315.

Each of the client service 305, the network 317, and the dynamic useridentification system 320 may include further mechanisms for deliveringdata, such as, for example, the short message service (SMS), thewireless application protocol (WAP), the transport connection protocol(TCP), the Internet protocol (IP), the World Wide Web, one or more LANs,and/or one or more WANs. The client service 305, the network 317, andthe dynamic user identification system 320 also may include analog ordigital wired and wireless telephone networks, such as, for example,public switched telephone networks (PSTN), integrated services digitalnetworks (ISDN), various types of digital subscriber lines (xDSL),advance mobile telephone service (AMPS), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), radio, cable, satellite, and/or other deliverymechanisms for carrying data.

One or more other services may be included in the components of system300 and/or these components (hereinafter the system services) may beincluded as part of one or more other services. For example, the systemservices may include or be included in a general-purpose or aspecial-purpose computer (e.g., a personal computer, a PDA, or a devicespecifically programmed to perform certain tasks), a local area network,and/or a wide area network. In either case, the response to andexecution of instructions received by any or all of the system servicesmay be controlled by, for example, a program, a piece of code, aninstruction, a device, a computer system, or a combination thereof, forindependently or collectively instructing the services to interact andoperate as described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a dynamic user identification system 420 thatincludes a WhoIsHere service 430 implemented using one or more contexttransaction services 435 and one or more context database services 440.Each context database service 440 may be configured to communicate withevery context transaction service 435 and with every other contextdatabase service 440. The context transaction services 435 and thecontext database services 440 may or may not be incorporated within thesame hardware and/or software device, depending, for example, on ananticipated workload of the WhoIsHere service 430. Structuring theWhoIsHere service 430 to include a separable context transactionservices 435 and context database services 440 may improve thescalability of the WhoIsHere service 430.

The context transaction services 435 may determine informationindicative of online presence and may communicate that information withthe context database services 440. The context database services 440 maymaintain a list of individuals presently within the online context 315based on the information indicative of online presence communicated bythe context transaction services 435. In general, the informationindicative of online presence includes information, such as, forexample, an indication that a URL has been accessed by-an individual ordeparted by an individual. The context transaction services 435 mayindicate presence information for only a first presence of an individualwho is multiply present within the online context 315. For example, ifan individual has open simultaneously three instances of the same webpage, the context transaction services 435 may indicate to the contextdatabase services 440 only one of those presences (e.g., the firstpresence). Alternatively, the context database services 440 may receiveindication of each presence and itself may filter out instances ofredundant presence.

The context transaction services 435 also may obtain from the supportservice 350 trait information related to an individual. The traitinformation may include preference and/or privacy information associatedwith the individual, such as, for example, information indicative of aparticipation status, an instant messaging (IM) visibility preference,an IM status (e.g., an active status, an idle time, an away status,and/or a mobile status), a user class (e.g., “Kids,” “Young Teen,”“Mature Teen,” or “General”), and/or a parental control (e.g., allowedor disallowed).

The trait information also may include information indicative of aninterest, expertise, age or other demographic identifier of theindividual. The trait information indicative of interest, expertise, orage may be associated with one or more categories. In one implementationsubject matter or demographic categories are used including, forexample, Autos, Careers and Work, Computing Center, Entertainment,Games, Health, House and Home, Internal, International, Kids Only, Live,Local, Men, Music, Network Programming, News, Parenting, PeopleConnection, Personal Finance, Relationships, Research and Learning,Rewards, Senior Living, Shopping, Sports, Teens, Travel, Welcome, What'sNew, Women, Workplace, and Miscellaneous. Categories also may be basedupon a relevant geography or a language. The categories may bepredetermined or they may be determined dynamically based on anintelligent process.

The online context 315 also may be associated with a category. Forexample, the online context 315 may include a corresponding categoryidentifier (e.g., a meta tag) embedded in a location of the onlinecontext 315. Alternatively, the context transaction services 435 maycategorize the online context 315 automatically based upon anintelligent process to correlate the online context 315 to a mostclosely matching category. The context transaction services 435 also maybe configured to generate dynamically one or more additional categoriesif already existing categories do not adequately describe one or moreonline contexts of importance. The context transaction services 435 maycoordinate categorization with the support services 350.

The context database services 440 may include a database, such as, forexample, a relational database, for storing or referencing trait,identification and/or contact information associated with theindividuals identified to be present within the online context 315. Thetrait information, for example, may include or be derived from anindividual profile, WhoIsHere participation information, and/orindividual location information.

The context database services 440 use the information indicative ofpresence communicated by the context transaction services 435 tomaintain a context record of individuals present within the onlinecontext 315. To improve scalability, the context database services 440may include in each context record essentially only information relatedto individuals presently within the online context associated with thecontext record.

In one implementation, the context database services 440 storeinformation within the context record indicative of an individual basedon a communication of the context transaction services 435 that theindividual has opened a web page within the online context 315.Similarly, the context database services 440 may remove from the contextrecord the information indicative of the individual 110 when the contexttransaction services 435 communicate that the individual 110 has closedthe web page within the online context 315.

The context database services 440 may indicate that certain individualslisted are excluded globally from WhoIsHere participation based oninformation communicated by the context transaction services 435. Forexample, an individual may be indicated as globally excluded based ontrait information indicating that the individual is not opted intoWhoIsHere, that the individual is categorized as a “Kid,” “Young Teen,”or a “Mature Teen” for whom a parental control prohibits participation.To prevent lurking (e.g., observing others without being observed), anindividual also may be indicated as globally excluded who, althoughopted into WhoIsHere, indicates a preference to remain invisible toother WhoIsHere participants.

The context database services 440 may communicate to the contexttransaction services 435 a list of individuals within the online context315. The context transaction services 435 may cache the list ofindividuals to reduce communication with the context database services440. The context database services 440 may compose the list from theinformation stored in the context record based on preference informationor other trait information of the requesting user 105. For example, theuser 105 may prefer that the list of individuals 110 present within thecontext 315 be sorted according to a relevant expertise or a commonalityof interest with the requesting user 105. The commonality of interestmay include a direct interest match between the user 105 and an otherindividual 110, or an indirect interest match between the user 105 andan individual selected as an associate by the other individual 110(e.g., by listing the individual to a contact list).

For individuals not indicated as globally excluded, the context databaseservices 440 may indicate in the list trait, identification and/orcontact information of those individuals. Otherwise, for an individualindicated as globally excluded, the context database services 440indicate the presence of that individual generically by incorporatingtheir presence only in a count of total users within the context 315. Tothe extent that a particular individual 110 has indicated a desire toexclude themselves from visibility to the user 105, that individual 110will not be identified on the list. In any event, the context databaseservices 440 may provide the list automatically to the contexttransaction services 435 at certain periods or in response to a requestof the context transaction services 435.

The online context 315 may experience periods of high use that may causea server of the context database services 440 or the context record ofthe context database services 440 to exceed a usage threshold value. Toredistribute the load in response to the exceeded usage threshold value,the context record of the context database services 440 may be migratedto another server of the context database services 440 that is lessbusy. Where the usage threshold value exceeded is associatedparticularly with the context record, the context record may be dividedbetween one or more servers of the context database services 440. Shouldthe activity associated with the divided context record fallsufficiently, the context record may be unified again upon a singleserver of the context database services 440. Migration, division, orunification of a context record may be performed automatically.Information indicative of any migration, division, or unification of thecontext record may be communicated to the context transaction services435.

FIG. 5 illustrates a dynamic user identification system 520 thatincludes a support service 550 implemented using a rating service 555,an interest service 560, a connection service 565, and a profile service570. The rating service 555 may be configured to determine and/oridentify a rated expertise of one or more individual users. The ratingservice 555 may determine and store expertise ratings for individualusers based on predetermined expertise categories, such as, for example,the subject matter categories previously described. The rating service555 may be configured to communicate an expertise rating of anindividual user based on a request of the WhoIsHere service 330.

The interest service 560 may be configured to record interestinformation of one or more individual users. The interest service 560also may be configured to communicate an interest message based on arequest of the WhoIsHere service 330. The interest message may includeinterest information of an individual user and interest information ofdesignated contacts (e.g., buddies) of the individual user.

The connection service 565 may be configured to provide or manage accessto the network 317 by one or more individual users. The connectionservice 565, for example, may be configured to manage user logins and/orIM access. The connection service may be configured to determine andprovide information indicative of a users online status or IM status,such as, for example, whether the user is active, idle, away, orlogged-out.

The profile service 570 may be configured to manage profile informationincluding trait, identification and/or contact information related toone or more individual users. The profile information may include, forexample, client addressing information, location information, age orother demographic information, WhoIsHere participation information,general visibility information, user status information, user classinformation, and/or communication preferences related to an individualuser. The profile information may be provided by an individual userand/or may be determined automatically, for example, based on onlineactivity of the individual user. The profile service 570 may beconfigured to update profile information based on informationcommunicated by the WhoIsHere service 330 and to communicate requestedprofile information to the WhoIsHere service 330.

The different services of the support services 550 also may access orinclude various sources of information, such as, for example, thirdparty information or services, email, a discussion group, a chat room, anews service, a broker service, a banking service, a shopping service, aweather service, the World Wide Web, or other Internet informationsources. The different services of the support service 550 may employone or more protocols (i.e., standards, formats, conventions, rules, andstructures) to transfer information internally or deliver information toone or more users. Protocols employed by the support service 550 mayinclude, the Internet protocol (IP), the transfer connection protocol(TCP), the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the file transferprotocol (FTP), the user datagram protocol (UDP), the layer twotunneling protocol (L2TP) and/or the simple mail transfer protocol(SMTP).

Each of the various services of the support service 550 themselves mayinclude front-end and back-end services. For example, the services mayinclude a front-end interface service configured to interface withindividual users or with other services or devices. The services alsomay include back-end processing and/or database services configured tointeract and, respond according to communications of the front-endservices.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary WhoIsHere window 600 that may be used bythe system of FIG. 3 to identify one or more other individuals 110 tothe online user 105. The WhoIsHere window 600 indicates a Sports:NFLcontext 605 associated with the window 600. The window provides a totalcount (491) 610 of the other individuals 110 within the Sports:NFLcontext 605. The window 600 also indicates the number of individuals (2)615 within the Sports:NFL context 605 who are NFL experts, and thenumber of other individuals (112) 620 within the context 605 whoseinterests match a specified interest of the user 105.

A presentation selector 625 enables the user 105 to select a preferredpresentation of one or more of the other individuals 110. Thepresentation selector 625, for example, may enable the user 105 to showexperts first (as shown), to show interest matches first, or to list theother individuals 110 alphabetically.

The WhoIsHere window 600 also includes a display panel 630 used to showidentifiers of one or more of the other individuals 110. Onlineidentifiers for one or more of he individuals included in the totalcount 610 are displayed by the display panel 630. In this example, thetwo experts, InternetAnne and ChattingChuck, are displayed firstaccording to the user preference indicated by the presentation selector625. Starburst symbols in the leftmost column provide a graphicalindication of the expert status of InternetAnne and ChattingChuck. Inaddition to an online identifier, each displayed individual also has anassociated graphical icon that may, for example, communicate anidentity, interest or expertise of the user. Commonality of interest(e.g., an interest match) between the user 105 and a displayedindividual 110 is indicated visually by highlighting the row or onlineidentifier of the matching individual. For example, the highlighted rowsof InternetAnne and SurfingDiane indicate an interest match for each.Although not shown, color may be used to provide additional indicationof expertise and/or commonality of interest, age or other demographicidentifier.

The WhoIsHere window 600 may enable the user 105 to open an IM or emailto an other individual who is displayed by clicking on the displayedidentifier of that other individual. For example, the user 105 mayinitiate an IM to SurfingSally by clicking on that individual's onlineidentifier. Alternatively, the user 105 may select SurfingSally and mayclick on the Buddy Info button 635 to view buddy information related toSurfingSally.

The WhoIsHere window 600 also includes a check-box 640 allowing the user105 easily to opt-in or opt-out of WhoIsHere. As illustrated, the user105 has opted into WhoIsHere by checking the check-box 640 to allow theuser 105 to see and be seen.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 implementable by the dynamic useridentification system of FIG. 3. The method 700 includes back-end stepsused to determine other individuals within an online context of the userto be identified to the user, and front-end steps used to identify theother individuals to the user based on the online context of the user.The back-end and front-end steps may be performed asynchronously and/orconcurrently to each other.

Referring to the back-end steps, online activity of other individuals ismonitored (step 705). If an entry event (e.g. an open event, a focusevent) is detected (step 710), then entry event and identificationinformation is communicated (step 715). Additional information, such as,for example, trait and/or contact information of the other individual isaccessed from an additional information source (e.g., a user profiledatabase) based on the identification information (step 720). Theadditional information may include, for example, client addressinginformation, email information, interest information, age or otherdemographic information, and/or a WhoIsHere preference such as aparticipation status. A corresponding online context is determined basedon the entry event information and context definition information (step725). The information related to the other individual is stored and/orassociated with a context record associated with the determined context(step 730). Monitoring of the online activity of the other individualscontinues (step 705).

If an exit event is detected (step 735) rather than an entry event (step710), then exit event and identification information is communicated(step 740). A corresponding online context is determined based on theexit event information and context definition information (step 745).The information related to the other individual is removed and/ordisassociated from the context record associated with the determinedcontext (step 750). Monitoring of the online activity of the other userscontinues (step 705).

Multiple back-end steps may be performed concurrently.

Referring to the front-end steps, an online context of a user 105 isdetermined based on online activity of the user 105 and contextdefinition information (step 760). The online context of the user ismonitored for change (step 765), and while the online context remainsunchanged, information indicative of other individuals presently withinthe online context is accessed (step 770). The user then is informed ofone or more of the other individuals based, for example, on preferenceor other trait information of the user and/or of the other individuals(step 775). To the extent that a change to the online context of theuser is detected (step 765), the new online context is determined andthe front-end steps are repeated. Multiple front-end steps may beperformed concurrently.

FIGS. 8-10 illustrate data flow diagrams showing processes that may beused to implement the system of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 that may be used to implement thesystem of FIG. 3 when the user opens a window, for example, to a webpage. Upon opening a window to a web page for the user, the clientcommunicates an “open window” message to the interface services (step805). The interface services communicate the “open window” message tothe context transaction services (step 810). Based on the “open window”message, the context transaction services issue a “query user info”message to the support services (step 815). The support services respondto the “query user info” message by passing a “user info” message to thecontext transaction services (step 820).

The context transaction services generate a “context entry” messagebased on the “open window” message and the “user info” message andcommunicate the “context entry” message to the context database servicesto indicate the presence of the user within the context (step 825). Thecontext transaction services also communicate a “query who is here”message to the context database services (step 830). The contextdatabase services generate a “list of users” message identifyingindividuals within the context in response to the “query who is here”message (step 835). The context database services communicate the “listof users” message to the context transaction services (step 835). Thecontext transaction services generate a “sorted list of users” messagebased on the “list of users” message and preferences of the user andcommunicates the “sorted list of users” message to the interfaceservices (step 840). The interface services communicate the “sorted listof users” message to the client for presentation to the user (step 845).

FIG. 9 illustrates a process 900 that may be used to implement thesystem of FIG. 3 when the user closes a window, for example, to a webpage. Upon closing a window to a web page for the user, the clientcommunicates a “close window” message to the interface services (step905). The interface services communicate the “close window” message tothe context transaction services (step 910). The context transactionservices communicate a “context exit” message to the context databaseservices based on the “close window” message (step 915).

In response, and to the extent that the user does not have open otherwindows within the context, the context database services remove theuser from the list of users within the context. The context transactionservices generate a “user list update” message (step 920). The “userlist update” message may indicate individuals present within anotheronline context of the user and may be based on information cached by thecontext transaction services, or upon information queried from thecontext database services as shown in FIG. 7. The context transactionservices communicate the “user list update” message to the interfaceservices (step 920). The interface services communicate the “user listupdate” message to the client for presentation to the user (step 925).

FIG. 10 illustrates a process 1000 that may be used to implement thesystem of FIG. 3 when the user alters a participation preference whilewithin an online context. When the user alters a participationpreference (e.g., by checking an Opt-In check-box), the clientcommunicates a “participation change” message to the interface services(step 1005). The interface services communicate the “participationchange” message to the context transaction services (step 1010).

In response, the context transaction services communicate an “updatecheck-box” message to the interface services (step 1015), whichcommunicates the “update check-box” message to the client (step 1020).The context transaction services communicate a “participation change”message to the support services so that the support services may updatestored preferences of the user (step 1025). The context transactionservices also communicate a “participation change” message to thecontext database services (step 1030). The context transaction servicesmodify trait information related to the user to reflect the changedparticipation status of the user.

Subsequently, the context transaction services communicate a “query whois here” message to the context database services (step 1035). Basedupon the changed participation status of the user, the context databaseservices generate a “user list” message based on the “query who is here”message. The context database services communicate the “user list”message to the context transaction services (step 1040). The contexttransaction services generate a “sorted list of users” message based onthe “list of users” message and preferences of the user and communicatesthe “sorted list of users” message to the interface service (step 1045).The interface services communicate the “sorted list of users” message tothe client for presentation to the user (step 1050).

Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of informing dynamically a user of a large scale network of other network users, the method comprising: determining dynamically an online context of the user; identifying other users presently within the online context of the user; storing trait information related essentially only to the user or to the other users in a users store related to the online context; and informing the user dynamically of the other users based on the stored trait information. 2.-57. (canceled) 